Jeff Stelling predicts result of West Ham United vs Brentford FA Cup tie for Sky Sports
Jeff Stelling doesn’t expect things to get any easier for West Ham and David Moyes as he has predicted the club get knocked out of the FA Cup this weekend.
The Hammers travel to Brentford in the third round of the competition on Saturday (7 January) in a repeat of the Premier League fixture they lost 2-0 at home just a week earlier on 30 December.
Moyes is under increasing pressure, despite a somewhat improved showing in the 2-2 at Leeds United on Wednesday, as the club are now without a win in six games in all competitions, a run which also saw them knocked out of the Carabao Cup at the same stage.
In his Super6 predictions for Sky Sports Stelling predicted a 2-1 Bees win, saying: “Will we see the magic of the FA Cup this weekend? I think Liverpool will edge past Wolves and Brentford will beat West Ham to make the next round.”
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At least Lucas Paqueta and Gianluca Scamacca were back on the scoresheet at Elland Road, but if the Irons are out of both cups at the earliest opportunity and only outside the Premier League relegation zone on goal difference a week into the new year then things will be looking serious for Moyes.
He’s done excellent work at the London Stadium since his return, but the wheels have fallen off this year despite a major spend in the summer.
The Scot will point to key injuries, but he dealt with similar issues last year with a much more threadbare squad and did better than this.
Perhaps the investment came too late and the skeleton crew that pushed for Champions League qualification for much of the previous campaign while making it to the Europa League semi finals went past their limit.
Either way the stars of last season aren’t performing to the same level and the big money arrivals have been inconsistent best.
Clearly, not every element of that is the direct fault of the manager but he is the man paid to put it all together successfully and he just isn’t doing that currently.
Lose another London derby at the weekend and with it the chance at a cup run and the questions over his future are only going to get louder.